Too late?
by greyliving
Summary: She's been gone a long time, is it too late now? AU, CS, rating just too be safe
1. Chapter 1

**Titel: Too late?**

**Author: greyliving**

**Disclaimer: I don't own CSI and never will**

**A/N: This is a little story I wrote some time ago. Any mistakes in it are mine.**

Five years, that's how long I've been gone. That's how long ago it was since I was forced to up and leave in the beat of heart. Five  
long, lonely years of worrying that when this day came it would be too late.  
I'm back now and there's a thousand questions running through my mind as I walk through the doors of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Will they be  
mad at me? Did I have a right to come back here? Will they hate me for leaving? Do they even remember me? Am I too late?

To my relief things doesn't seem to have changed alot around the lab, I have seen Nick and Warrick busy in one of the layout rooms  
and Greg was making his special blend coffee in the breakroom, too busy to notice me walking by. I realise just how much I've missed  
everyone but I have yet to see the one person that I came back here for, the person who holds my future. A future I hope I'm not too  
late to still have.

As I turn the corner my feet suddenly stop moving, there she is, my angel. I stand here and just watch her for awhile. Five years and  
she's even more beautiful then she was the day I left. I gather all the courage I have but just as I'm about to speak she turns around.  
Her eyes widen in shock of seeing me again most likely.

"Sara...?"

Before I can reply she's crossed the distant between us and thrown herself in my arms. I close my eyes and say the first thing that  
comes to my mind.

"Am I too late?"

She pulls away and looks my in the eyes before giving me the most beautiful smile. Oh how I've missed those smiles.

"You could never be too late. I love you Sara."

I breath a sigh of relief as I smile back at her.

"I love you too Catherine, so much."

I lean down and kiss her, only one thought running through my mind.

I'm home again.

_Lately I've been thinking about adding to this story, writing some background about why and where Sara went. I don't have any ideas about an actual story but the idea to expand on it won't leave me alone. What do you think, should I add to it or should I leave it as is it?_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I decided too add to this story. I've got everything mapped out and I know how I want it but it's going to take some time to write it. I hope you guys will like it and also I'm looking for a beta reader, contact me if you want to do it.

Anyway here's the first part of the add on, I promise it will make more sense the more I write. Any mistakes are mine, I hope there aren't too many.

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_6 years and 3 months earlier_

Catherine had got lucky and snagged the only case that had come in during the slow shift and she was now busy looking for evidence in the middle of nowhere. Searching for a blood trail in the desert wasn't one of her favourite things to do but it sure beat the paperwork the others where doing. She had just put a marker down next to a new blooddrop when her cellphone rang.

"Willows."

"Ms. Willows this is Ms. Adams, I'm calling about Lindsey."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"She was on her way to the bathroom when she tripped and fell down the stairs. Her arm looks broken and she seems to be in alot of pain. I've already called 911."

"Oh my god...um...Ms. Adams I'm 3 hours away from the city but I'll be at the hospital as soon as I can. Is Lindsey there? Can I talk to her?"

"Of course."

"Mommy?"

"Lindsey, sweetheart! Everything will be ok, mommy will meet you at the hospital as soon as I can ok?"

"Ok mommy, hurry it hurts alot!"

"I promise I'll hurry, I love you sweetie!"

"Love you too mommy."

Catherine hung up and called Gil, he would have to send someone else out there to take over because she needed to go be with her little girl.

Gil walked into the breakroom.

"Warrick I need you to head out and take over Catherine's case and Sara I need you to go the hospital."

"Why?"

"Apparently Lindsey has broken her arm and since it will take Catherine at least 3 hours to get back here I thought one of us should go stay with Lindsey until Catherine gets there."

"But Griss..."

"Now Sara."

"Fine!"

Sara slammed the casefile she had been working on shut and left for the hospital.

Sara had no idea why Grissom had picked her to go stay with Lindsey. She wasn't good with kids and she hated hospitals, she had spent enough time in them growing up. She got to the hospital shortly after the ambulance and was immediately shown to Lindsey's room when she told the nurse who she was.

It was obvious Lindsey's arm was broken and the girl was still crying softly when Sara entered the room.

"Hi Lindsey."

Lindsey looked up.

"You're Sara, right?"

"Yeah that's me. Grissom sent me to keep you company until your mom gets here."

Lindsey only nodded and Sara wondered what the heck she was supposed to do now.

"I broke my arm as well when I was about your age."

"You did?"

"Yeah, I did."

Sara had no idea why she had shared that information with Lindsey but it seemed to take her mind off the pain for awhile.

"How?"

Not wanting to tell Lindsey the real reason she settled for something one of her friends had done.

"I fell off the monkey bars."

Lindsey looked at her for awhile.

"Where you scared?"

Sara knew all too well how scary being in the hospital could be when you where a kid and hoped that what she would say next would help Lindsey feel a bit safer.

"Yeah I was. It's ok to be scared but the doctors are very good at what they're doing and they're going to take good care of you."

Catherine arrived at the hospital two and a half hours later. The drive had seemed much longer and she was anxious to see her little girl. A nurse told her that the doctor had fixed Lindsey's arm and given her a pink cast, Lindsey was ready to go home. As Catherine got to Lindsey's room she was greeted by a sight she never thought she would see. Sara Sidle was sitting on the edge of her daughters hospital bed and the two where busy playing a game. Deciding to make her presence known Catherine stepped into the room.

"Hey sweetheart!"

"Mommy!!"

Catherine gave her daughter a hug and checked her over to make sure she was ok. Sara got up from the bed, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, I better head back to the lab. You take care kiddo."

"You too Sara."

"Thank you for staying with her Sara."

"No problem Catherine."

Sara left the hospital and headed back to the lab. Catherine on the other hand took her daughter home and the whole time until they got home all she heard was 'Sara this' and 'Sara that'. It seemed Sara wasn't as bad with kids as she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

too late ch 3

That afternoon Sara was woken by a knock on her door, she dragged herself out of bed and silently cursed whoever was at her door. Sara opened the door and came face to face with Catherine and a bouncing Lindsey. Catherine, noticing the fact that Sara was only half awake, began apologizing.

"Sara I'm so sorry, I told her you where probably sleeping and..."

Noticing the smile on Lindsey's face Sara cut Catherine off.

"It's ok Catherine, what can I do for you?"

Lindsey held up her pink cast.

"You forgot to sign my cast Sara!"

Sara was a little surprised that Lindsey wanted her to sign her cast but invited both Willows girls into her apartment so she could sign it. Lindsey showed Sara what everyone else had written and told her about how cool her friends thought it was that she had a pink cast. It wasn't hard to get sucked into Lindsey's stories, the girl had alot of energy and put all of it into her stories. Before Sara realised what had happened she had agreed to meet Catherine and Lindsey and the park the next day for icecream. She had to hand it to Lindsey, she was sneaky slipping her questions in with the story she was telling.

Both Catherine and Sara where nervous about the next day, sure they worked great together apart from the odd fight here and there but they wheren't exactly friends. The only reason Sara ended up going was because she didn't want to disappoint Lindsey, if it meant being social to Catherine for an hour or two then she could deal with that.

The park was full of kids and their mothers and Sara worried for a while how she was going to find Catherine and Lindsey. She didn't have to look long though for when she turned around a blond girl with a pink cast came running at her in full speed.

"Sara!!!"

"Hi Lindsey! Where's your mom?"

Lindsey pointed to the otherside of the playground.

"She's over there, come on!"

She grabbed Sara's hand and lead her over to the bench her mother was sitting on.

"Hello Catherine."

"Hi Sara."

Neither said anything more and the silence that followed would have become awkward if Lindsey hadn't decided that she wanted icecream right away and began running off towards the icecream stand. The two adults smiled at the impatient girl and joined her to get their icecreams.

Much to the surprise of both Sara and Catherine they found themselves getting along and having interesting discussions. They even ended up going out for dinner all three of them together. Lindsey was thrilled that Sara had dinner with them and even more so when they included her in their conversations. From that point on Sara spent either Saturdays or Sundays in the park with Lindsey and Catherine. The rest of the team also noticed that the two ladies got along better, granted they still had heated discussion but nothing like before and everyone wondered how long it would last.

Sara had grown to like and look forward to the days spent with the Willows, they had only missed one weekend when Sara got called in to work. It was the first time in Sara's life that she didn't look forward to going into work.

It was Friday and Sara had been on a scene for most of the shift and had therefor missed seeing Catherine. She wanted to ask her if they could go to the zoo tomorrow instead of the park, but once she was back in the lab she couldn't find Catherine anywhere.

"Hey Nick, do you know where Catherine is?"

"She's at home."

"Why? Did she go home early?"

"No, she called in sick. She's got a cold and Lindsey has a fever. Why?"

"Oh, nothing. Thanks."

"No problem."

Sara's excitement about going to the zoo would have to wait, she walked into the lockerroom trying to figure out what to do tomorrow since there would be no zoo or park. When she got home her answering machine blinked and she pressed the button to listen to the message.

_"Hi Sara, it's Catherine. Both Lindsey and I are sick, she must have gotten some bug going around at school and kindly passed it on to me sigh anyway I just called to tell you we won't make it to the park tomorrow. I'll see you at work on Monday, hopefully, oh and Lindsey says hi."_

There was no denying Catherine had one heck of a cold. Sara could tell just from the short message she had left how awful Catherine felt. She hoped both Catherine and Lindsey felt better soon.

When Sara woke up after managing to sleep for a few hours she suddenly knew what she could do to hopefully make Catherine and Lindsey feel a bit better. She got ready and ate a quick breakfast before getting into her car and driving to the store. Some cold medicin, fruits, ice cream and then some juice was bought before she headed over to rent some videos. Sara was staring at all the different videos wondering to her self what kind Lindsey would like, after 5 minutes she decided to ask for help. It was another 10 minutes before she was on her way to Catherine's house.

When she arrived she got the bag and the videos she had rented and walked up and knocked on the door. It took a little while before Catherine opened the door, wearing an old t-shirt and some sweatpants. Catherine always wore nice clothes but for some reason this outfit made her look very cute, a thought that slightly shocked Sara.

"Hi."

"Sara, what are you doing here?"

"I brought some ice cream and movies."

"Lindsey will love you, come on in."

Sara walked inside and Catherine closed the door.

"You'll have to apologize the clothes and general mess, neither me nor Lindsey feel up to doing much."

Sara smiled.

"That's ok, just let me know if there's anything I can do."

Lindsey came walking down the stairs and she looked even worse the Catherine.

"Mommy, you where supposed to finish reading the chapter."

"Hey Lindsey."

"Hi Sara, sorry we couldn't meet you at the park today."

"Don't worry about that kiddo, I brought some movies and ice cream for you."

"You did? Thanks Sara, you're the best!"

Lindsey gave Sara a hug, which Sara happily returned.

"Linds, why don't you pick a movie while I make us some ice cream and then we call all watch the movie together. Unless you have something to do Sara?"

"No, movies and ice cream sounds great."

By the end of the movie both Lindsey and Catherine had fallen asleep. Sara draped a blanket over them before sitting down and looking at the two. They had somehow come to be a big part of her life, maybe a bigger part then she cared to admit. Sara knew she was bi sexual, she'd had realtionships with women before, but her feelings for Catherine had taken her by surprise. Suddenly Sara wasn't looking at a sleeping Catherine anymore, but into a pair of blue eyes.

"Hey..."

"Hey, you ok? You looked miles away."

"Yeah, just thinking."

"Oh."

Catherine looked at Lindsey.

"Did she make it to the end of the movie?"

Sara smiled.

"No, she fell asleep shortly after you did."

"You should have woken me up."

"Nah, you looked too cute."

Catherine looked at Sara, not sure she had heard her correctly. Sara on the other hand wished a hole would just swallow her up. Why on earth did she say that out loud?


End file.
